Religious Tourism

Halkidiki: Pilgrims of Orthodoxy…

Halkidiki was introduced to Christianity in 50AD, when the Apostle Paul passed through Apollonia on his way from Philippi to Thessaloniki. Christianity became the legal religion of the Roman State since the era of Constantine I (beginning of the 4th century AD) and during the reign of Theodosius I, it was proclaimed as the official state religion. Therefore, there are ruins or early Christian churches all over Halkidiki.

After the foundation of Mount Athos monastic community, Halkidiki became the most important religious center for Orthodox pilgrims, while a lot of monasteries were founded during Byzantine era. Most of the monasteries outside Athos peninsula though, were founded to be under the supervision of Mount Athos’s monks.

Mount Athos -commonly known as the Holy Mountain- is the spiritual capital of the Orthodox Christian world, consisting of 20 monasteries, 12 skites, and about 700 houses, cells or hermitages and approximately 2,000 monks....

Kassandra The church of Taxiarches. It is located one km southeast of the settlement of Potidae, built in 1872 with materials taken from the site of ancient Potidaea. The church of Agios Demetrios, built in 1858, locates in the square of the village Athitos and its architecture is unique by having the basilica style, with such a prominent dome. The Continue Reading...